8/22 From the 40s Forward: Ralph Death Threat, Triple-Double K, Nellie's Gem, HBD Doug, Game Stories

• 1949 - RHP Doug Bair was born in Defiance, Ohio. Doug was a second round pick of the Bucs in 1971 out of Bowling Green and began and finished his 15-year career in Pittsburgh. The middle reliever tossed for a minute in 1976 and closed out in 1989-90 with the Pirates, posting a line of 2-3-1, 3.12 in 70 outings. 

Doug Bair 1990 Score

• 1952 - Ralph Kiner found a letter threatening his life unless $6,200 was stashed in cab the next evening. Ralph called the police and then went out and hit his 27th homer of the year. He was under police guard for a while, and though the authorities suspected and questioned a taxi driver who they believed cooked up the plot, no one was ever charged and the situation faded. 
• 1962 - Tom Sturdivant’s knuckler fluttered its way past the Colt .45 bats for eight whiffs as he tossed a three-hit, complete game whitewash against Houston at Forbes Field, winning 3-0. Bob Skinner’s two run triple followed by Roberto Clemente’s sac fly in the third provided all the Bucco runs. Clemente preserved the shutout by making a wall-crashing grab of Jim Pendleton’s ninth inning drive with a runner on second. 
• 1969 - Dock Ellis capped three Bucco starters striking out 10+ hitters in consecutive games for the first time in club history when he K’ed 10 in a 8-2 win over Cincinnati at Forbes Field. Roberto Clemente tripled and had four RBI while Al Oliver added a homer. The streak started when Luke Walker whiffed 11 in a 5-1 win against Houston on the 19th, followed by Bob Veale winning a 1-0 decision with 10 punch outs the next day against Denny Lemaster and the Astros, with both performances also tossed at Forbes Field. 

Roberto Clemente 1970 Topps

• 1970 - The Pirates beat Los Angeles 2-1 in 16 innings at Dodger Stadium. Roberto Clemente went 5-for-7 and scored the winning run when he led off the 16th with a single, stole second and came in on Jerry May’s two-out knock to left. Four Pirate pitchers scattered seven hits, with Bruce Dal Canton getting the W, but they kept it interesting by issuing 11 walks; they even allowed LA pitcher Don Sutton to steal the only base of his career. The Dodgers went 0-for-15 with runners in scoring position. 
• 1972 - Nellie Briles tossed a one-hitter, giving up just a two-out, seventh inning single to Ken Henderson, to beat Juan Marichal and the SF Giants 1-0 at Candlestick Park. The game’s only score came in the first when Roberto Clemente reached on a two-out error by Tito Fuentes and came home on Willie Stargell’s double. Henderson was the only Giant baserunner; Briles didn’t walk anyone and whiffed six. 
• 1975 - Pittsburgh swept the Reds in a doubleheader at TRS by 7-2 and 4-2 tallies. In the opener, Richie Zisk homered twice and Rennie Stennett had three hits to support Larry Demery. John Candelaria spun a four-hitter in the second game, backed by homers smoked off the bats of Dave Parker and Richie Hebner. 
• 1979 - The Pirates scored twice in the seventh and added two more in the eighth to rally past the SF Giants 8-6 at TRS. Tim Foli had four RBI, and his two-out, two-run single up the middle drove in the winning runs in the eighth. Dave Parker also collected his 1,000th hit. Kent Tekulve, the last of four Pirate pitchers, got the win after tossing two scoreless innings of relief. 

Tim Foli 1979 Topps

• 2007 - The Bucs bashed six homers (Nate McLouth - 2, Freddy Sanchez, Xavier Nady, Jason Bay, Jack Wilson) to bang out an 11-2 decision over the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Sanchez had four hits and three RBI to plow the road for Tom Gorzelanny’s win. 
• 2014 - Josh Harrison had a career high five RBI, all coming with two outs, to lead the Bucs to an 8-3 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at Miller Park. He had a double and homer while Andrew McCutchen added another moon shot. Jeff Locke went six innings for the win; he gave up just two hits though he walked an unsightly six batters. The Pirate staff gave up eight free passes, while recording just one strikeout. 
• 2015 - In front of a sold-out house at PNC Park, the Pirates took a 3-2 decision from the SF Giants in dramatic fashion. Gerrit Cole gave up a run on a walk, stolen base, error and broken bat single; Joakim Soria gave up the game tying run on a walk that came around on a two-out wild pitch. The Pirates scored when Jung-Ho Kang homered off Mike Leake and then off Hunter Strickland. George Kontos struck out the first two batters in the ninth, then Starling Marte ripped the Bucs third homer on a first pitch cutter to walk off with the win, claimed by Mark Melancon, who tossed a six-pitch ninth. The Pirates had just four hits, and thanks to a couple of caught stealings, left no runners on base. Kang became the third South Korean-born ballplayer with a multi-homer game, joining Hee-Seop Choi and Shin-Soo Choo.